neck pain stretches

Do you have neck pain, especially from sitting for a long time? I recently took a long flight and after a while my neck and upper shoulders started to become stiff. What exercises help that?

Of course stretching your neck and shoulders helps like this:

BUT there is another tight muscle that strains your neck and it is, SURPRISE, the latissimus muscle! It is located below the shoulder blades and when tight, pulls the shoulder blades down straining the muscles on top of the shoulder blade which connect to the neck such as the upper trapezius, levator scapulae and rhomboids. Here is a picture:

To stretch it while sitting, stretch one side at a time. Put, for example, your right arm over the top of your head, then tip your ribs to the left and shift them to the right like this: